MATH IA
MDMA
Psychiatrists and psychotherapists in the US (1970s to 1985) and Switzerland (1988–1993) used MDMA legally as a prescription drug, to enhance the
effectiveness of psychotherapy.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common problem in
everyday medical practice and a major and costly public health
problem all over the world
Despite a better understanding and growing efficacy of the existing psychotherapies, PTSD often remains a chronic illness, with high rates of psychiatric and medical comorbidity (Jacobsen et al., 2001; McFarlane, 2010), as well as suicidality
MDMA (±3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine)-assisted psychotherapy is a novel approach to the treatment of PTSD that employs the psychoactive compound MDMA as a catalyst of PTSD-specific psychotherapy itself.
The drug MDMA is a substituted phenylethylamine
that was first synthesized in 1912 by the pharmaceutical company
Merck, but was rediscovered in the 1970s by the chemist A
Shulgin, and it was later introduced to psychotherapy by the psychotherapist L Zeff (Benzenhoefer and Passie, 2006)
Prior to the US scheduling of MDMA as a drug of abuse in 1985, there were reports suggesting it to be effective in psychotherapy
The first rigorously-controlled clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of chronic PTSD show promising results (Bouso et al., 2008; Mithoefer, 2011)
The benefits of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy appear to be long-lasting
A main characteristic of the MDMA-induced state is a positively-toned cognitiveemotional state, with reduced fear, possibly facilitating the processing of traumatic material and better encoding positive emotional experiences.
Imaging studies of PTSD have shown increased activity in the amygdala, the fear center of the brain, and decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex and in the hippocampus.
once people take MDMA, there’s increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, and decreased activity in the amygdala — it basically evens out the scale so proper therapy can be done
Much of the reports of toxic reactions are muddled with overdose or water-poisoning deaths.
Undoubtedly, large amounts of ecstasy can lead to over-heating which in turn, in rare cases, can trigger fatal heat stroke. Many factors contribute: number and strength of pills taken, environment, alcohol-consumption, body weight - but women seem more at risk. The bulk of ecstasy-related deaths around the world have been young women.
MDMA is one of the most intensely studied recreational drugs in history. But despite thousands of research papers and studies, scientific evidence on the side-effects remains inconclusive.
Panicking users, fearing they are overdosing, drink too much water and provoke hyponaetraemia (water-poisoning)
studies generally suggest that illicit ecstasy users display negative residual effects on various cognitive measures, with the most consistent and robust finding being lowered verbal memory
Such findings are of concern not only with regard to illicit ecstasy use, but for recent studies proposing therapeutic applications for MDMA, such as in treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder
due to the subjectivity of drug effects and drug users in general, it is hard to establish a general consequence for the frequent use of MDMA
findings of the study:
illicit ecstasy use, by itself, does not generally produce lasting residual neurotoxicity
WEED
general infos
TED TALK - How can illegal drugs help our brains
David Nutt is a psychiatrist and the Edmund J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology in the Division of Brain Science
Nutt incurred the wrath of the government when he claimed in a paper that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than many illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and cannabis
He criticised Smith's use of the "precautionary principle" to justify her decision to reclassify cannabis and said that by erring on the side of caution politicians "distort" and "devalue" the research evidence.
Nutt acknowledged there was a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness linked to cannabis use.
the brain is a VERY complex organ, very powerful
however, it can easily go wrong
brain disorders are highly frequent in society
INVESTMENTS in such disorders do not match to the frequency of occurences
leafly video
cannabinoids = active ingredient in cannabis
when consumed, they bind to receptor sites throughout our brains and bodies, and depending on which receptor it is, they have different effects on us
THC = brain
CBD = body
due to their powerful relief power, cannabinoids have been synthesised and prescribed as medicine
HOWEVER, research shows that herbal marijuana, that is, smoked, has a far wider concentration of such substances
strongly psychoative = euphoric effect
has been used to combat pain, nausea, sleep and stress disorders, appetite loss, etc
high doses = anxiety and paranoia
non-psychoative
counteracts THC
calming effect = used for treating anxiety
lowers blood sugar levels
used for treating pain, multiple sclerosis, stress, inflammation, sleep loss and epilepsy